Giving Up The Game
by AvalonBay
Summary: Taking some time to himself to think brings Jayden to reveal something that could help the rangers and their fight against Deker and the Nighlocks. Prequel one-shot to my upcoming PRSamurai story. May extend into two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**Giving Up The Game**

 **Summary – Taking some time to himself to think brings Jayden to reveal something that could help the rangers and their fight against Deker and the Nighlocks. Prequel one-shot to my upcoming PRSamurai story. May extend into two-shot.**

* * *

Jayden Shiba sighed gently. His blue eyes shifted over the residents of Panorama City. A pang of envy shot through his chest. The residents hustled and bustled, shopped, laughed, smiled at each other, ducked into stores all without a care in the world while he sat out in the sunlight, wondering—almost dreading what was inevitably going to happen.

Whether it be seconds, minutes, hours, or days, it was going to happen.

A monster would attack, and he'd throw his life on the line and the residents of Panorama City had no idea. Were blissfully unaware that he was the one who protected them time and time again. Didn't know he had that burden to bear. And it was a burden slowly starting to wear him down.

Jayden stretched out his legs, resting his arms on the top of the bench behind him. Worked hard to appear nonchalant, but it was only a matter of seconds until his fingertips repeatedly tapped the top of the bench and his knee bounced up and down.

Unlike the residents of Panorama, he wasn't basking in the sunlight because he had nothing to do. He waited. For a Nighlock attack, for Moogles running around somewhere…he expected all of that to happen in the next few minutes and it was the only thing that seemed to be keeping him sane lately. His mind had been running a million miles a minute, most of which having to do with the constant training he was going to be subjected to, to be able to control the next spin disk, to be a good leader.

He didn't want to admit it to the others, but…the pressure was starting to get to him. To be a leader and help the other rangers with their power was slowly starting to eat away at him. Kept him up at night. Angered him when he—and they—didn't get something right away.

They'd never get to his level, if he were being honest. Not as quickly as he'd like. He knew it to be true, and it was the hardest part of what he had to face. What happened when the monster that could defeat all of them came and he was the only one that could stand up to them?

He'd be as good as dead—

 _No!_ Jayden clenched his teeth, turning his head aside. He couldn't allow himself to think like that. If he let those thoughts come to mind, it'd break his confidence quicker than he could ever anticipate and doubting himself and others was _not_ what a leader did.

Sighing again, this time in relief as his joints cracked when he stood, Jayden stood. He stretched his arms overhead, bringing a hand up to rub his neck. He looked around, eyes landing on the nearby coffee shop. He hadn't been there in so long but remembered they did make a good espresso. Not something he usually treated himself with, his body was a temple and he took what he put into it very seriously. The extra caffeine was probably not good for him, but he needed something to take his mind off things.

Jayden went inside and immediately moved to the counter to order. The barista looked up from purple notebook she was writing in and immediately moved to greet him. Her eyes flicked over "What can I get you, mate?" He heard the Australian accent and leveled his gaze at her.

She looked back at him, dark eyes patiently waiting to move to the register to ring up his order. His eyebrows furrowed, a little disarmed. He wasn't used to being around people other than his team. Observing others as he kept to himself was even a bit off-putting. He couldn't remember the last time anyone was actually nice to him, let along Mike when he was trying to butter up Jayden after breaking something in his room.

"Do you need another gander at the menu?" She continued, her smile widening. Almost as if she'd told a joke.

"Uh." Jayden leaned back and quickly looked at the menu that rested on the board above his head. As if he'd completely forgotten his order within the last second. "I'll just have an espresso," he finally said.

"Coming right up." The waitress plugged his order into the register and started to make his drink.

Jayden waited a second. "How much do I owe?" he asked.

"It's on me," She replied quickly and walked further down the counter before Jayden could protest.

His eyebrows furrowed even further, hand slowly moving to replace his wallet into his pocket. He hadn't meant to give any indication he didn't want to pay. It was a debt he owed, and he expected to pay for the service he was asking for. Nevertheless, the waitress seemed to be serious, so he went to a nearby empty table and sat. He resisted the urge to check his Samurizer for any messages.

Jayden turned away from his Samurizer and watched as the waitress continuously and effortlessly greeted and served the other patrons in the shop while her co-workers worked perfectly together. Though he couldn't help but notice, when the waitress called over his drink, that there was something written and scribbled out on his drink. Something that looked suspiciously like 'ASS FACE'.

Turning it in his hand, Jayden's eyebrows rose when he saw 'SAD GUY' written neatly on the side of the cup, free of scribbles. "Sad guy?" He questioned.

A few of the baristas behind the counter started to laugh while the one helping him shot them a glare. Then she turned back to him, tucking her hair behind her ears. "My mates like to think they're funny," she apologized. Jayden continued to stare at her. She shrugged, adjusted the purple knit hat that sat atop her hair. "I've seen you around a lot," she said, nodding toward the window that overlooked the street. "You always look a little down. I don't ever see you with anyone."

Not down, just preoccupied. Jayden looked away. His fingertip absentmindedly thumped against the counter top. There had to be something that could help them, he told himself. Everything had a weakness, and so far the only weakness that was constantly found was his and the other rangers.

It had been embarrassing how easily they had been defeated. No amount of training had prepared him for it.

"Is something wrong, mate?" Jayden glanced up to see the girl watching closely. "Does something smell? I reckon I haven't checked the expiration date on our milk in a bit but-"

"No." Jayden briskly cut her off. "Why?"

"Because you have a look on your face like you just smelled something foul," she continued in a 'duh' tone. "So it's either that this place really isn't up to its health codes or there's something seriously wrong with you." She crossed her arms, leaning against the counter. Her eyebrows rose. "Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if it were the latter, hey?"

Jayden frowned. "I have a lot on my mind," Jayden replied. There was a defensive edge to his tone that he knew the girl noticed through the quick quirk of an eyebrow.

"So, you don't just have that face when you're buy yourself," the girl continued, slowly nodding. "I hate to see what happens when you bloody smile." She reached out to take a glass a co-worker sat on the counter next to her.

She took a rag from the pocket of her black jeans, starting to rub it over the glass. Jayden's eyes shifted to the watch that sat on her wrist. A faceless silver mechanism that had purple stripes along the band. He'd never seen a watch look like that before. Tilting his head, he examined it a bit closer before her movements twisted her hand away.

Jayden sucked in a deep between his teeth. What he said next certainly was rude, but her words were not helping his mood in the slightest. Defeat did that to him. Mia always said he shouldn't take defeat too seriously—which would spur her in a disagreement with Kevin who espoused it was important to recognize your shortcomings. Still, he couldn't help himself form saying, "It'd be nice if I wasn't judged."

"Who said I was judging you?" She seemed unbothered by his tone. As a matter of fact, her smile widened. "Judgment is forming an estimation or assumption about something without having evidences to reinforce your claims. The fact that you're letting it bother you further is simply your adverse reaction to my opinion."

He blinked in surprise, listening to her politely tell him off. Finally, he could only say, "I didn't ask for it."

"No one ever does. My sister says it's one of my worst habits. But you should see her."

The girl smiled and put the glass down, picking up another one and wiping water droplets off it as well. She placed it onto a drying rack behind her and went to the window that had been cut into the wall, showing a glimpse of the kitchen behind them. Leaning forward, she said something to the chefs at the back then picked up a set of menus and came from around the bar, going to set up a few tables that had just recently been occupied.

Jayden returned to the table with his espresso and nursed it, his mind wandering over the last battle he and the team had faced with the Nighlocks. The monster had moved incredibly fast and seemed impervious to the numerous attacks he, Kevin, Mike, Mia, and Emily had shot towards it.

And the monster continued to sit laugh and laugh as each attack was blasted into the nearby buildings and cars that surrounded the fighting area. What was it that was going to be the deciding factor on how to beat it? If they couldn't defeat this monster there was going to be another one, even bigger, better, and faster that would do the job and finish off the rangers for sure.

"Here you go."

Jayden jumped as the girl placed a plate with a piece of a chocolate cheesecake in front of him. "Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't order this."

"No worries." She waved a hand. "I can't have someone with that long of a face leave looking like that. It's not good for our reputation." She turned and picked up a can of whipped cream and placed it onto the counter by the plate of food. "And whipped cream to go along with it." She wiggled a finger back and forth. "Just keep it PG, this is a family place."

Jayden chuckled, reaching out and taking the fork that was given to him as well, digging into the piece of dessert. He stuck a piece into his mouth and chewed gently, starting to cut another piece. He raised his blue eyes to the girl.

"I'm Jayden," he finally introduced himself.

"Bailey," she replied. "Nice to finally meet you." Her eyes flickered over him. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"No." Jayden shook his head. "I'm just…by myself. I needed some time away."

"I hope your 'time away' manages to loosen you up a little," Bailey commented. "You look like you could use a laugh." Jayden looked away as his Samurizer went off, making him surge to his feet, nearly knocking over the table and his drink. Bailey hardly reacted, she continued to watch him closely. Something flashed through her eyes. "And a change in wardrobe. You wear red a lot, mate."

"It's my favorite color," Jayden said quickly.

"I know the feeling."

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 **A/N:** If the summary wasn't clear, it's referring to Bailey helping out the samurai rangers. Just making that as clear as possible. Also, like I said, this is a one-shot prequel to my upcoming samurai story. I may make this a two-shot to extend to Bailey's POV in the next one, but who knows. What'd you think of their meeting?

 **~Av**


	2. Chapter 2

Bailey looked at her watch then moved to the register to begin the process of clocking out. She moved quickly, entering her employee number with greater speeds than ever before. It was habitual, how many times she had to poke at the screen, how many times she had to type on the keyboard that she hardly had to look at the screen to do anything.

She watched as Jayden—funny how he hadn't given her his last name, ignoring the fact she hadn't given him his either—walked out the coffee shop at a normal speed, fi not at a fast-paced walk. Then the second he was out the door he took off running down the street.

 _A news flash will come up in a few seconds,_ Bailey thought, looking toward the TV screen that sat in the corner of the screen. Just as she thought, there was a news break that flashed across the TV screen. Some sort of a monster that had a fan of some sort, destroying the buildings around them. _And, of course, the crowd of screaming people_ …Bailey closed the door to the register at the same time the first of the crowds of screaming residents ran past the front of the coffee shop.

At least, those that didn't decide to barge through the front door of the restaurant, nearly knocking donw tables that were in their way. Bailey grinned to herself. She took off her apron and tossed it aside.

"Hey, I'm gonna go, yeah?" she called to Max, her co-worker who stood at the next register over.

"Did Ass Face get to you already?" Max asked, wiping down the counter. He lifted his chin and grinned at her. "Or are you finally going to do something and stop drooling over him like a lost puppy?"

Bailey waved her hand back at him. "I don't drool over him."

"You better not." Max nodded towards the door. "Guys like that are nothing but trouble. I know how girls like you operate with guys like that."

"Girls like me, huh?" Bailey planted her hands on her hips. "What does that mean? And what do you mean about blokes like him."

" _Blokes_ like him," Max said, mimicking her accent. "Are just projects to you girls. You like to take bad boy who's sort of rough around the edges and work on him until he's the perfect guy that you all fantasize about but doesn't exist. And then you'll be sorely disappointed and all I can do is sit back and say 'I told you so'. Take it from me, Ass Face is bad news."

"Well, you're not going to because I'm not going to work on him as a project," Bailey said. She stuck her nose in the air, her glasses sliding back up her nose. "And his name's not Ass Face—"

"—Right, it's Sad Guy. You're too nice, Bay."

"I am. But his name is Jayden. Hoo roo." Bailey waved to Max then left the coffee shop at a pace that rivaled Jayden's. But the second she turned the corner around the side of the coffee shop, she ducked into an alleyway and found herself alone.

She looked around for a moment before pressing her fingers into the sides of the communicator on her wrist. In a bright blast of purple light, she teleported from the alleyway back to her house. A nice, modern style apartment on the outskirts of panorama city. The second she arrived, she burst into her apartment.

"You won't believe what I found out!" She cried, moving through her place like a purple whirlwind. "You. Won't _believe_. What I found out."

"Whoa, careful Bay, your mouth's moving at warp speed," Avalon Mitchell commented, turning from the kitchen counter where she wiped it down with a rag. Behind her, Billy Cranston stood with a skillet in his hand. "I don't think I've seen you this excited since you first got your powers and, believe me, sis, I wish you would've shut up then."

"Thanks, Av," Bailey said with a roll of her eyes. "But, you're not going to believe this." She turned to the TV and jabbed it on with a push of her thumb into the power button. "Watch." She pointed to the TV as the news flash she'd seen before came up, but this time showing off a team of rainbow-wearing heroes in spandex flying across screen to fight the monster.

"So there's more power rangers here, so what?" Avalon folded her arms.

"The chances of there being another ranger team in the city is about a million to one," Billy commented. "However, considering the fact that we've managed to find one in each city we've moved to since leaving Reefside—"

"—Angel Grove—" Avalon broke in.

"That does pose some consistencies that can be difficult to ignore," Billy continued, as if Avalon hadn't even spoken.

Bailey tilted her head back, groaning towards the ceiling. "You're not seeing the big picture here," she pointed out.

"Neither are you, Bay, you're looking at the ceiling."

Bailey made a face and pointed towards the TV screen once more. She waited for another shot of the ranger team and freeze-framed the picture. Moving closer to the screen, she pointed at the red ranger. "I met him today," She explained.

At that, Billy and Avalon both raised their eyebrows. Almost skeptically. Still, Bailey couldn't help but notice Billy slowly lower his skillet. He turned off the burners on the stove and moved to stand next to Bailey, copying her stance with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Are you sure?" Avalon asked. She snorted. "Do you know how many times Bulk and Skull wondered who we were?" She gestured between herself and Billy. "Apparently a lot longer than when you and I first got to Angel Grove."

"Well, Bulk and Skull weren't _exactly_ the brightest bulbs in the lamp," Billy pointed out. He rubbed his chin. " _And_ you were the one who morphed in front of them and Lt. Stone if you don't remember."

"I remember, Smurf." Avalon eyed her boyfriend with disdain. "'You don't need to remind me."

Billy grinned.

"Can we get back to the important topic at hand, please?" Bailey huffed. She pointed towards the TV screen once more. Spoke slower, as if talking to a kindergartner. "I met the red ranger today."

"Are you sure it was him?" Billy asked.

"How many other people do you know who wear the same color every day of their lives?" Bailey shot back, making Billy and Avalon look down at their own blue and orange clothes. Despite not having been official rangers in a while, they still found themselves unable to stay away from imprints of their official ranger colors on their clothes. "And how many people do you know suddenly run off with no explanation what so ever? This is even obvious that Bulk and Skull could see it now."

"So you met this guy," Avalon remarked, lowering her chin. "Who is it?"

Bailey beamed. "That guy from the coffee shop."

"You mean Ass Face?" Avalon's face screwed up in confusion.

"Ass Face?" Billy repeated, looking towards Avalon, who waved her hand, brushing off the question.

"No, I mean, Sad Guy—"

"—Oh! That guy you fancy!"

"I don't fancy him," Bailey said quickly. "I've been watching him because, like I said, I thought he was a ranger and he is and I bloody proved it." She pointed with her index fingers towards her sister. "And you thought I was crazy!"

"So what are you going to do now?" Billy asked. He watched Bailey carefully, blue eyes shifting over her face. Almost as if he were worried. "There's a ranger team here, they've been protecting the city well. What is it going to do to their and your situation that you know his identity? You know it's to be kept a secret, we kept ours a secret for years."

Bailey lifted an eyebrow. "And look how we all ended up," she pointed out. "Friendless except for those that were rangers. We hardly see our families anymore, we have to constantly move to not be found out…" she lifted up her arm and motioned to her communicator. "And there's constantly been monsters coming around since we first started out. This isn't anything that's going to end soon. We need to help them as much as we can."

"I agree with you, Bay, but I still don't get how you plan on doing that," Avalon said slowly.

"Easy." Bailey planted her hands on her hips. "I'm going to get him to admit to me that he's a ranger."

Billy looked at her with a tilt of his head. He thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully before saying, "You know we can't stay in our morphed forms very long," he pointed out. "Tommy nearly got destroyed when-"

"I know," Bailey interrupted. A lump formed in her throat at the memory of their fight against Mesogog. Of what happened with Connor, Kira, Ethan, and Trent and what forced Tommy to nearly sacrifice himself. And the others...Bailey scratched the back of her head and watched the TV screen once more. Watched as the new ranger team, boasting the colors of red, blue, yellow, green, and pink all moved into their victory pose, the monster blowing up behind them. Distantly, she heard the sound of the explosion outside the house, probably ten miles away if she had to guess. "That's why I have to be very careful."

* * *

 **A/N:** Second part is a little shorter than the first, but I hope you guys liked it anyway. I definitely had some fun making a bit of fun of the power rangers lore along with it.

 **~Av**


End file.
